VIDEO: HPD escorts fallen officer from the hospital to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences

HOUSTON – One officer was killed and the other one is injured after a Houston Police Department helicopter crashed early Saturday in an apartment complex in north Houston.

HPD Chief Art Acevedo said the tactical flight officer died at the hospital, while the pilot is still in surgery, but was “very banged up."

“We are hopeful that he will survive," he said.

The HPD crash was reported at about 2 a.m. at the Biscayne At Cityview Apartment complex located at 17050 Imperial Valley Drive, near the Greenspoint neighborhood.

According to Acevedo, the two officers were in the 75 Fox helicopter from the Houston Police Department’s Air Operations Unit and were investigating reports of bodies floating in a bayou. Around 2 a.m., officials reported that the helicopter had gone down.

The pilot and the co-pilot were trapped in the wreckage for a while as crews worked to get them out.

Once freed, the officers were airlifted to Memorial Hermann hospital for treatment and both were in critical condition with serious injuries, Acevedo said.

None of the residents of the apartment complex were injured in the crash.

“They were able to avoid going into the actual apartment buildings where people were sleeping and were able to, basically, they clipped a part of the clubhouse,” Acevedo said.

KPRC 2 reporter Taisha Walker provides an update from the scene:

KPRC 2 reporter Joel Eisenbaum provides an update from the Texas Medical Center:

Here is a live look at the scene of the HPD helicopter crash in north Houston:

Watch HPD escorts fallen officer from the hospital to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences: